Abstract

Public opinion on critical issues, such as technology deployment aimed at reducing greenhouse gases or increasing energy efficiency, may be impacted through information disseminated through the media. It is therefore increasingly important to understand the role media plays in spreading misinformation to the public. Through this study, we add to the growing body of literature on misinformation by exploring the relationship between media attention, risk perceptions, knowledge of, and support for smart meter technology. Smart meter deployment has been hindered, in part, due to beliefs that the technology causes cancer or can lead to incorrect electricity billing. To examine the relationship between misinformation and support for smart meter technology, we analyzed a quota sample of 1,046 people living in the U.S. Results show that paying attention to smart meter stories is related to familiarity with false information about smart meters. Familiarity with false information is also associated with misperceiving risks regarding the technology (e.g. those who are aware of false information about health problems associated with smart meters are more concerned about health-related problems associated with this technology). Ultimately, reporting higher levels of concern about smart meters is associated with lower support for government and industry policies aimed at increasing smart meter installation. However, the relationship for misperceptions, which decreased support for smart meters, was only present among those with low knowledge levels of the technology. Results indicate that knowledge may be a protective factor in terms of mitigating the effects that misinformation could have on outcomes such as support for policies or technological developments.

摘要

通过媒体传播的信息可能会影响公众对关键问题的意见，例如旨在减少温室气体排放或提高能源效率的技术部署。因此，了解媒体在向公众传播错误信息中的作用越来越重要。通过这项研究，我们探索了媒体关注度，风险感知，智能电表技术的知识和支持之间的关系，从而增加了有关错误信息的文献量。智能电表的部署受到一定程度的阻碍，部分原因是人们认为该技术会导致癌症或导致错误的电费结算。为了研究错误信息与智能电表技术支持之间的关系，我们分析了一个居住在美国的1,046人的配额样本 结果表明，关注智能电表的故事与对智能电表的虚假信息的熟悉程度有关。熟悉错误信息还会导致对技术的误解风险（例如，那些了解与智能电表相关的健康问题的错误信息的人会更加关注与该技术相关的健康问题）。归根结底，对智能电表的关注程度越高，对旨在增加智能电表安装的政府和行业政策的支持就越低。但是，误解的关系减少了对智能电表的支持，仅在技术知识水平较低的人中存在。